Conversations for good.

Value

It isn’t a secret, that I am no fan of money – it hurts me every single day that contributions that people make with the work they do or the time they spend seems to often not equal monetary gain. Nurses, doctors, scholars and thinkers seem to want while bankers and wheeler dealers thrive.

I was told a story today that explained this, at least a small part of this conundrum…

A kind, caring and intelligent man I know owned a bookstore. He sold books. One day, someone gave him a huge cache of books he didn’t necessarily want or think he could sell. He left these books in boxes out the front of his store, advertising that they were free to anyone who may want them.

Few people took those books. He placed little value on them until he read a few. Then, and only when he saw some value… were they truly worth anything?.

Then he put a reduced sticker stating they were originally worth heaps, discounted to $20 on those same books, and and sold most of them for some serious profit.

So.

Things have value, and we are bound by the value we perceive. As business owners and consumers.

I’m not actually trying to make anyone feel foolish or vilify anyone as I say this… But I am aware of the principle, more than ever since hearing this story.

There is value in all we do and offer. Never undermine your own value, and never underestimate the value of the things you pay for or refuse to purchase, this is all entrenched and we function in these parameters.

This wasn’t meant to be a blog… Just a thought and a single story, among many stories I heard today that verified the fact many kind, beautiful, brilliant people do no put enough value on things that are. Truly. Valuable.